Economic Ministerial Committee approves amendments of VAT law

CAIRO – 24 June 2020: The Economic Ministerial Committee approved Monday the proposed amendments of the VAT law, and decided to refer the draft law to a Cabinet meeting for discussion.

Minister of Finance Minister Mohamed Ma’it presented the proposed amendments of some provisions of the VAT law to the Ministerial Economic Committee.

Ma’it explained that the amendments he presented prioritized exempting the produce (goods or services) that are exported abroad from projects of regions, cities, free markets and economic areas of a special nature, to motivate those projects to work and produce. This is in addition to exempting agricultural products such as seeds, seedlings, and vegetables, as well as locally produced fruits, and inputs to the production of papermaking.

He added in a statement made on June 22 that the proposed exemptions also included the sanitation and water purification or desalination services, as they are vital services that affect the lives of citizens. The amendments further proposed exemptions for the medicine and sera sector, vaccines, blood and blood derivatives, and blood collection bags, taking into account the impact of these items on large segments of the patients.

Also, the proposed amendments include the drugs and active substances involved in their production based on a decision issued by the Ministry of Health.

This came during the meeting of the Economic Ministerial Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli, via video conference. The meeting was attended by the governor of the Central Bank, and the ministers of oil and mineral wealth, planning and economic development, finance, international cooperation, the public business sector, and trade and industry, as well as the two deputy ministers of planning and finance, the chairman of the Financial Supervision Authority and the CEO of the General Investment Authority.

For his part, the prime minister praised the draft amendments, and the exemptions they contain that affect vital sectors, pointing to the importance of the timing of discussing these amendments in light of the negative effects of the spread of coronavirus on multiple economic sectors.